5 Genius MetroCard Hacks You Can’t Afford Not To Try

Secrets of the subway revealed

You know where to stand on the platform so the doors open right in front of you like magic, you'd never hog the pole and you've come up with some pretty amazing ways to avoid the G train at all costs.

But we bet you don't know these five life-changing MetroCard tricks.

KNOW THE MAGIC NUMBERS

Quick: The train's coming and you have 30 seconds to load money onto a card and jump through the turnstile. If you remember the numbers $17.35 (seven rides), $22.30 (nine rides) and $39.65 (16 rides), you'll never be stuck with an unusable balance on your card again.

COMBINE FORCES

OK, let's say you forgot the magic numbers and now you're stuck with five MetroCards that all have a balance of less than $2.75. Take them to the station attendant and flash a big smile--if she's in a generous mood, she'll combine them at no extra cost. Cha-ching!

GET THE SUBWAY V.I.P. TREATMENT

You can score a reservation at every restaurant on the Eater Heatmap...so why are you still waiting in line to buy a MetroCard with a bunch of confused tourists? Sign up for EasyPay and your card will automatically refill when it runs out. It's like the FastPass at Disney World (except instead of jumping on a fun ride, you're going to work).

BE A METROCARD PACK RAT

We're totally anti-clutter, but here's one thing we recommend hoarding: old MetroCards. Even if they're expired. Just feed an old card into the machine and a new one will pop out, saving you that $1 new card fee.

DONATE A SWIPE

Here's something else fun you can do with those old cards--give them to the NeXT Stop Project. It'll combine your remaining balances and give them to a New Yorker in need of a ride. Let the good subway karma roll.